Koenning slams Daniel for donating to Pratt

In a meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board on Monday, Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel’s Republican primary opponent, Court Koenning, lambasted the incumbent for donating to the campaign of embattled family court judge Denise Pratt.

Pratt’s latest campaign finance report, shows Daniel gave her $400. It is the only contribution listed on the report.

Last fall, after allegations arose that Pratt had backdated court documents, Daniel launched an investigation that led to the resignation of Pratt’s lead clerk, a long-time employee of the District Clerk’s office. The Harris County District Attorney’s office also investigated, along with a grand jury that ended up no-billing the freshman Republican jurist.

Koenning, 40, on Monday claimed Daniel’s own investigation still is open.

“There is an ongoing criminal investigation within that office that involved the clerk, that involved that judge, that involved the District Clerk’s office,” he said. “And Chris gave a campaign contribution to Denise Pratt, which just to me is unseemly. Why would you involve yourself in that?”

Daniel did not respond to requests for comment.

Pratt, through her lawyer, has blamed the backdating on her clerks.

At a Chronicle editorial board meeting on Friday, the same day Webster lawyer Greg Enos filed a third criminal complaint against Pratt accusing her of backdating court records in yet another case, Pratt continued to blame any backdating on clerks. She has garnered four primary opponents, who all scored higher on the Houston Bar Association’s latest judicial candidate qualification poll.

In a blog post Sunday, Enos claimed the DA’s Public Integrity Unit is again investigating Pratt for backdating.

DA spokesman Jeff McShan said the office “can’t confirm or deny” an investigation “on a public integrity issue.”

Koenning on Monday criticized Daniel for not catching the backdating himself, saying he effectively ended a program called “Data Control” meant to catch those kinds of date discrepancies by leaving a position unfilled.

“The person who was in charge with Data Control took a job outside of the county and Chris never replaced the position and shut down the operation, so I think that left us vulnerable,” he said. “The District Clerk needs to be a backstop, not necessarily a check and balance, but a backstop to make sure these kinds of problems don’t happen.”

Finance reports show Daniel and Pratt share the same political consultant, Allen Blakemore, who also works for District Attorney Devon Anderson. All are seeking re-election this year.

Koenning is a special assistant to Precinct 3 Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack.

Court Koenning, 40, is challenging Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel in the March 4 Republican primary